ELECTRONICS
Hon Hai posts revenue gain
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), a major iPhone assembler, yesterday reported consolidated revenue of NT$589.73 billion (US$19.14 billion) for last month, up 21.48 percent annually. From January to last month, cumulative revenue totaled NT$4.08 trillion, an increase of 17.7 percent from NT$3.46 trillion in the same period last year, Hon Hai said in a statement. Wistron Corp (緯創), another iPhone assembler, reported that revenue last month increased 2.06 percent annually to NT$91.64 billion and cumulative revenue in the first 10 months of the year expanded 9.31 percent to NT$725.81 billion annually.
MANUFACTURING
Gaming boosts Sun Max
Industrial cooling fan maker Sun Max Tech Ltd (動力) yesterday reported that sales last month grew 10.39 percent year-on-year to NT$131.68 million, driven by gaming-related demand after its clients launched graphics cards using Nvidia Corp’s Turing graphics processing chips. Cumulative sales in the first 10 months of the year increased 9.61 percent from the same period last year to NT$1.08 billion, the company said. Sun Max’s cooling fan business focuses on the gaming segment, with graphics card cooling kits and other gaming-related products for PCs accounting for more than 80 percent of overall sales.
FOOD AND BEVERAGE
Yummy Town profit falls
Yummy Town Holdings Corp (雅茗天地集團), which operates restaurant and tea brands globally, yesterday reported that net income attributable to its parent company was NT$37.19 million last quarter, down from NT$48.01 million in the same quarter last year. Earnings per share fell from NT$1.56 to NT$1.11 over the period, the company said in a statement. Consolidated sales grew 6.27 percent to NT$582.91 million, but higher operating expenses caused gross margin to drop by 1.06 percentage points to 52.82 percent and operating margin to fall by 3.22 percentage points to 8.01 percent. Cumulative sales in the first 10 months grew 10 percent to NT$1.8 billion.
SOFTWARE
Gamania sales grow 73%
Online game publisher Gamania Digital Entertainment Co (遊戲橘子) yesterday reported consolidated sales of NT$870 million for last month, up 73 percent year-on-year, on the persistent contribution from its popular game Lineage M. In the first 10 months of the year, cumulative sales increased 96 percent annually to NT$12.29 billion, the company said. Third-quarter net profit was NT$530 million, with earnings per share of NT$3.11, a quarterly high, and total net profit for the first three quarters hit NT$1.46 billion, up 40.51 percent annually, with earnings per share of NT$8.59.
TEXTILES
Eclat profit helped by scale
Textile and garment manufacturer Eclat Textile Co (儒鴻) on Thursday posted earnings per share of NT$11.43 for the first three quarters this year, up from NT$11.2 for all of last year. The company attributed its earnings growth to the optimization of its product mix and increased economies of scale. Net profit was NT$1.04 billion last quarter, up 12.39 percent annually, with total net profit in the first three quarters rising 58.18 percent annually to NT$3.14 billion. Eclat expects business to pick up further and peak this quarter due to Christmas sales and increased shipments to sportswear brands. In the first 10 months of the year, consolidated sales grew 16.77 percent annually to NT$22.72 billion, it said.
BUSINESS UPDATE: The iPhone assembler said operations outlook is expected to show quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year growth for the second quarter Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday reported strong growth in sales last month, potentially raising expectations for iPhone sales while artificial intelligence (AI)-related business booms. The company, which assembles the majority of Apple Inc’s smartphones, reported a 19.03 percent rise in monthly sales to NT$510.9 billion (US$15.78 billion), from NT$429.22 billion in the same period last year. On a monthly basis, sales rose 14.16 percent, it said. The company in a statement said that last month’s revenue was a record-breaking April performance. Hon Hai, known also as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), assembles most iPhones, but the company is diversifying its business to
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE: The chipmaker last month raised its capital spending by 28 percent for this year to NT$32 billion from a previous estimate of NT$25 billion Contract chipmaker Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (力積電子) yesterday launched a new 12-inch fab, tapping into advanced chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging technology to support rising demand for artificial intelligence (AI) devices. Powerchip is to offer interposers, one of three parts in CoWoS packaging technology, with shipments scheduled for the second half of this year, Powerchip chairman Frank Huang (黃崇仁) told reporters on the sidelines of a fab inauguration ceremony in the Tongluo Science Park (銅鑼科學園區) in Miaoli County yesterday. “We are working with customers to supply CoWoS-related business, utilizing part of this new fab’s capacity,” Huang said, adding that Powerchip intended to bridge
Microsoft Corp yesterday said that it would create Thailand’s first data center region to boost cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure, promising AI training to more than 100,000 people to develop tech. Bangkok is a key economic player in Southeast Asia, but it has lagged behind Indonesia and Singapore when it comes to the tech industry. Thailand has an “incredible opportunity to build a digital-first, AI-powered future,” Microsoft chairman and chief executive officer Satya Nadella said at an event in Bangkok. Data center regions are physical locations that store computing infrastructure, allowing secure and reliable access to cloud platforms. The global embrace of AI
Qualcomm Inc, the world’s biggest seller of smartphone processors, gave an upbeat forecast for sales and profit in the current period, suggesting demand for handsets is increasing after a two-year slump. Revenue in the three months ended in June will be US$8.8 billion to US$9.6 billion, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Excluding certain items, earnings will be US$2.15 to US$2.35 a share. Analysts had projected sales of US$9.08 billion and earnings of US$2.16 a share. The outlook signals that the smartphone market has begun to bounce back, tracking with Qualcomm’s forecast that demand would gradually recover this year. The San